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Monday, 15 June 2015

slow cooked beef in red wine

slow cooked beef in red wine - good served with garlic roast tomatoes

Slow cooked beef in red wine - one my favourite beef recipes - so easy to put together and just leave to gently simmer away on a low heat until the beef is deliciously soft and tender. Great as a make ahead dinner party dish and when you are cooking for groups. I like to serve this with dauphinoise potatoes or soft polenta and slow roast tomatoes with garlic. The Limousin region is famed for the quality of its beef - and I would have to agree. Grass fed and free-range, the herds of Limousin cows are a common site in the area grazing on the open pastures. I hope you enjoy my recipe - let me know how you get on & bon appetit! preparation time: 10-15 minutes cooking time: 5-8 hoursNB: these are approximate cooking times - it's done when the beef is tender. The longer the better in my opinion as this allows the flavours to develop and the beef to get nice and soft. serves 6ingredients:1 kg beef steak 2 large onions - chopped2 cloves garlic - crushed2 bay leaves2 tbsp rosemary & thyme finely chopped1 tbsp flour1 bottle full bodied red winea few dashes of Worcestershire saucechopped fresh parsley to finishsalt & pepper to tasteoil

method:

season the steak with salt and pepper, heat the oil in a large frying pan and brown the steak for a few minutes on both sides.

remove the steak from the pan and put it in your roasting pan/slow cooker.

add the chopped onions, garlic, bay leaves, rosemary and thyme to the frying pan and fry until softened and caramelized.

add the flour to the onions and cook out for a few more minutes.

to deglaze the pan add about half the bottle of red wine and bring to the boil - ensuring you get all the crispy bits of beef and onion from the bottom of the pan into the sauce.

pour this into your roasting pan/slow cooker, add the rest of the bottle of wine, Worcestershire sauce, cover and cook on a low heat for 5-8 hours (or until the beef is tender)

if you want a thicker sauce - ladle some off and boil over a high heat until reduced.

sprinkle over the chopped fresh parsley and serve with your accompaniment of choice.

bonappetit!

cooking tips:

use your beef cut of choice - I have made this recipe successfully with sirloin, rump, bavette as well as brisket & other stewing cuts - the slow cooking tenderises the tougher, stewing cuts of beef. I always prefer to use a cut of beef with a good marbling of fat through it as I think it adds flavour and tenderness.

you can cook this recipe in the slow cooker, on the hob or in the oven - the key is low & slow - to tenderise the meat and allow all the flavours to mix and develop. It's even better if you cook it the day before and heat it up thoroughly the day after when you want to serve it.

don't rush frying the onions - the caramelization adds a real depth of flavour to the final dish.

this recipe is delicious with sauteed wild/forest mushrooms added to the beef about 30 minutes before the end of cooking.

I like to serve this with dauphinoise potatoes or soft polenta but it would be lovely with buttered tagliatelle or rice too.